[reviews from 1997] The Autocollants Casa + 4 (7") (Tinseltones) It's Christmas Eve and you are gazing upon a Christmas tree alone in an unlit room; there is someplace else you want to be, someone you want to be there with. That is like the experience of listening to this EP. The first and title song, "casa", is like being mesmerized by the cascading effect of blinking Christmas lights that were plugged in at different times. As Laura's soft singing takes you away, the mellow trumpet solo seems to take you even further. Those blinking lights bounce off the shiny red ribbons on the presents under the tree, and so does the second song "16th street", an instrumental spiced with a peppy trumpet taking center stage. A glance out the window reveals the snowing has stopped, and the small amount of light coming from the tree is reciprocated by the tufts of snow in even smaller increments. "You've changed my mind", very moving and pretty along the lines of the Cat's Miaow, is a lot like that sight. "Four and a half" is extremely short, and twee in colossal proportions. It's like spotting the tree ornament you made back in grade school, and a sincere smile, much repressed during the depressing holiday, appears across your face. Taking cautious sips from a steeping mug of hot cocoa, mind elsewhere, the lights on the tree become blurred. All thoughts are silenced for this one moment. "I can't stop falling backwards", this time sung by Edward, gently brings the listening experience to a close. This EP simply cannot last long enough. Why not pay them a visit on the Autocollants webpage? Kleenex Girl Wonder The Bostonians (7") (MOC) The a-side, the "hit single" from their upcoming full length, is a wonderful ditty that brings on a wholesome Sesame Street theme song-like feeling that you may expect from a KGW piece of work. You can probably sit and listen to this song a couple times over before starting to feel like a furry Jim Henson puppet. But the b-side, recorded at lower levels compared to side-a, is an advertisement by the band for future KGW releases. Backed by a new-wavey dancey drum machine, the singer fellow mumbles about what they have coming out. So what we have here is a 7" of a song off the upcoming record on one side and an advertisement on the other. A closer examination reveals that this single is supposedly a limited edition of 500 "unnumbered" copies that most will be sent to radio stations. only precious few will make it to the public. Well I saw at least 3 copies at one store in NYC, and I know it's available on the popular mail-order places. Exactly how "precious" is this single? And why are they charging regular 7" prices on what can only be a gimmick? bleeh. Class First (cd) (Double Agent) This neat little release, which is also the first ever full-length on Double Agent, plays like two different records smushed into one. A good portion of it is spacey electronic stuff, while the rest is the quiet pop stuff we heard on their last EP. This LP opens with a new version of "Greys" that's got a spacey intro and an outro (the EP version didn't). They successfully make a beautiful hybrid of the two styles in "Could You Ever Love Me?" which is probably my second favorite song on here. Their Field Mice cover of "This Love Is Not Wrong" drifts by nicely too... which is followed by my favorite, the 7:20 swoon trip "Overdose" (no, this is not a Tool cover) sung entirely by Leigh. This song comes complete with a sound clip of a HAL line from the movie 2001! The mixture of electronics, quiet minimal pop and violins make this a unique record that's recommended for folks who aren't afraid to like things easily recognized as twee. Juniper Think and Die Thinking (7") (Fantastic) I dunno why I never wrote about this single earlier, but oh well. You see, I went on this huge Juniper spree (as big a spree as one can have over 3 singles) this Fall and this wonderful 7" was one of the reasons why. "Think and Die Thinking" is pretty and cute-noisy like Slumberland-era Velocity Girl, with punky drumming reminiscent of Tiger Trap. "Summer on my mind" is slower, with the band taking their sweet time to sweetly kick your ass. All of this is sung by Jennifer in the DC pop vocal stylings a-la Sarah Shannon and Jina Yi from Lorelei/Racecar. These San Francisco (by way of Maryland) ass-kickers also have two equally-as-kick-ass 7" releases on Orange Peel and on A Turntable Friend, that are SO worth your time checking out. If only these were out around the time when Tiger Trap broke up... (hey! you can also read what other people are saying about them on the Official Juniper Webpage!) Anorak Girl Plastic Supermodel (7") (Damaged Goods) Wow!! Right on the heels of Helen Love's departure from the Damaged Goods label come Anorak Girl! Totally in the casio-pop vein a-la Helen Love, without Joey Ramone references for miles around (I wonder if there are Helen Love members in this band?). Etched in funky colored vinyl (sort of this swampy green with pink swirls) are two of the most fun songs I've heard since... well, the Helen Love split with Teen Anthems. The b-side, "Billie's joined the fanclub" is worth the import price alone. Set to the fun casio beats is a song about Billie, who joins an internet-based Spice Girls fanclub. How can you argue to lyrics like: he gets badges and posters and merchandise, and dirty pictures of Ginger Spice. Billie's joined the fanclub on the World Wide Web. This one's definitely one of my songs of the year. Bunnygrunt / Tullycraft split ep (7") (KittyBoo) Okay, so this 7" allegedly came out this summer but none of the stores in nyc carried it till now. I suppose I could've mail ordered for it, but hey... what's the fun in that? Anyway, after a couple months of waiting I finally have it and I'm pretty glad I do. Each band contributes two songs on this split, and since I listened to the Bunnygrunt side first I'll start with that. Of the bunnies' two songs, I truly enjoyed the second one "the ballad of floppy & the charmers". Led by Jen's bass assault (bassault??), I think this is the first Bunnygrunt song where the bass takes center stage. It's very booty shake inducing. Matt sings about this band, Floppy and the Charmers, a band the main character misses seeing their first show and never gets to see them because they break up before they play another. Check it out, if only for the lyrics, it's worth it. The first song, "no name slob", is your standard Bunnygrunt booty-shake fare, which is great but why re-invent the wheel?. Tullycraft's side also has one great song and one average song, the great one being "break seaside (and over)". This song gives me that 80's head-boppy feeling that I've come to expect from their releases (this is a good thing). Once you learn the words, this should become a sing-a-long favorite. The other song, "maybe baby" is a Ninjas cover, and since I've never heard the original (mm.. honesty) I can't tell you if he's going the job but it's pretty Tullified and quite the danceable number, if I do say so myself. The Teacups From Zero To Infinity (7") (Kindercore / Roller Rink) Plinky, partially jangly minimalist pop! There are two guys switching off on vocals every other song: one of 'em has a bit of a Calvin Johnson quality, although he doesn't get as low, and the other reminds me of Scott from Silver Scooter. The cute song title award on this EP goes to the last song, "flux capacitor", which I believe is a Back to the Future reference (the doohickey in the back of the DeLorean that makes time travel possible). My favorite song on this 7" is "my parasol", which has cute backing vocals and extra plinky plinks on the guitar. Gaze Seedless (7") (K) The title of the single, seedless, couldn't be a better representation of the sweet, slightly tart treat that lies within the green sleeve; sweet melodies and slightly tart lyrics (about broken hearts). The songs have a really cute simplicity about them that makes them quite unforgettable -- at least for me. Now, I've heard people refer to gaze as a Rose Melberg side-project but let it be known that they existed before Rose moved to their hometown of Vancouver. With that said, I'd like to include that the ever multi-talented Rose Melberg makes her full-time drumming debut with gaze (she played some back in her Tiger Trap days), while backing up Miko on the vocals. On bass is former CITR music director Megan Mallet (I'd write more about Miko and Megan if I knew more about them, really!). Oh yeah, their full-length is slated for a February 1998 release, properly entitled Mitsumeru. That's Japanese for "gaze". Belle & Sebastian 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light (cdep) (Jeepster) This is the third and final installment of their three-EP series. As beautifully moving as one might expect, they are one of the very few bands out now who deserve every bit of the hype they get. Really. An avid fan of theirs can probably answer this question for me, but why didn't they just release the 12 songs they recorded over these 3 EPs on one recording? I know there's more money to be made, but there's probably some story behind it. Whatever. All pettiness aside, I must say each of the four songs on this EP is absolutely magic. "A Century Of Fakers" is the song that swept me of my feet at their show in NYC -- complete with tooting organs and bitter lyrics. mmm. "Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie" has this almost loud, western feel to it. Belle & Morricone? woo, I am so witty. "Beautiful" is signature B&S with a well placed trumpet solo. "Put The Book Back On The Shelf" has a sassy spanish feel to it, although it could be the trumpet doing me in. Overall, as I mentioned earlier, this is a strong release that stirs all kinds of emotions from one song to another. I have never been so happy and sad at the same time while making pancakes on a Saturday morning. Holiday Cafe Reggio (cd) (spinART) A collection of (mostly) previously unreleased songs! (included at the end are four songs that were on their first ever release, a self-released 7" EP on Tasty Bits.) I recognized a couple of them from getting to see them a bunch of times, especially "There's a Place" and "Just Follow" (one of the few perks of living here was that Holiday was a local act.). These four pop-swingers melt you away with songs like "Well Enough Alone", "Your Very Last Party", and "Sherman" (as well as the two previously mentioned tracks) in their trademark velvety, sophisticated style we all fell in love with. This CD is such a must for fans I cannot even begin to describe it... just when you thought you had gotten over their break-up (almost a year ago), they had to drop this sweetness on your lap. Who says life is fair? Who says you can never have too many parentheses?? The Apricots Everyday + 2 (7") (Septophilia) The Apricots are fronted by Karen, who is better known as Bunnygrunt's uppity beats-mistress. She takes over on guitars and vocals for this side-project and is accompanied by three guys, one of them being her "new" husband (as of summer '97) Tom. There's no mystery behind the way they sound, as they will most likely rock your socks off in the familiar way that Bunnygrunt does. The A side, "Everyday", is a Buddy Holly cover played pretty close to the original (a-hey-hey). Of the two B side songs, my hands down favorite is "Anxious Surfer" -- how can you not love a song with a toy piano and zippy jangly guitars?! You can't. You might as well give up. And buy the 7" (it's on apricot-colored vinyl!). The Best Wishes Shoebox Full Of Love EP (7") (Secret) I'm not 100% positive, but I heard these folks went by the name 'Shoebox Full of Love'... why the name change I don't know. But I do know for sure they play hushed, staggeringly sweet, zippy pop tunes; like if Talulah Gosh played in the corner of some church during Sunday Mass. I emphasize hushed because the singing is never more than a whisper (she reminds me a bit of Elizabeth Price [Talulah Gosh, The Carousel, etc]), the drums are played with brushes, and the airy guitars are turned way down. Highly recommended. Girlfrendo ...Gives You A Love Bite (7 ) (Piao!) I might be crucified for writing this, but these kids sort of remind me of bis at some parts (i.e. sassy, bratty, pokey pop with shouty singing). The one exception to that would be the song "crushed", the first song on the b-side, that's a bit slowed down and the brattiness is put on hold for a few. With a few more listens I'll probably like the other songs more. Superlove / Teen Athems split single (7") (Flighted Miskick) Miskick. Superlove is actually Helen Love incognito (as if their fans couldn't tell), if that helps the cause any. Each band plays a song about a football (that's soccer to some of you) team in England -- Superlove with Cardiff City, and Teen Anthems with Seansea City. I LOVE Helen Love and yet I found myself playing the Teen Anthems' side more... for me, that's saying a lot. This release is quite enjoyable even for those who don't follow European Football (like me). Tullycraft / Avocado Baby Stolen Ecstacy 45 - Chapter Six (7") (100 Guitar Mania) The sixth installment to the zany 7" series from the even zanier label 100 Guitar Mania based in Tokyo. Tullycraft does a song called "She's Got The Beat" which is originally by Bean (when I first saw the title I thought it was a Go-Go's cover. durr.), and it sounds very much like a Tullycraft song. No surprises here. The Avocado Baby side is as smile-inducing as ever, as the minimalist duo plunk the xylophone and plink the guitar. "I wanna be where the girl are" (that's how it's spelled) is good, but I am KO'ed each time I put on "T.r.o.u.b.l.e.". Do you think I'm biased? Hell yeah I'm biased.
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